Leavell Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $3,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMGN. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Amgen by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,658 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Amgen by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 37,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,857,000 after buying an additional 16,376 shares in the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group grew its position in shares of Amgen by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,445 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amgen by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 11,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,269,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Amgen by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,805 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 76.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amgen news, SVP Nancy A. Grygiel sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.09, for a total transaction of $662,811.53. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,094,268.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMGN shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Amgen from $284.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs cut Amgen from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Amgen from $336.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Amgen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Amgen from $332.00 to $328.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amgen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.65.

Amgen Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMGN traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $306.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,139,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,835,861. Amgen Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.71 and a twelve month high of $329.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.96, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $164.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.13.

Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The medical research company reported $3.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.76 by $0.20. Amgen had a return on equity of 156.21% and a net margin of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Amgen Inc. will post 19.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Amgen Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Amgen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.57%.

About Amgen

Amgen Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics worldwide. The company's principal products include Enbrel to treat plaque psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis; Otezla for the treatment of adult patients with plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and oral ulcers associated with Behçet's disease; Prolia to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis; XGEVA for skeletal-related events prevention; Repatha, which reduces the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization; Nplate for the treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenia; KYPROLIS to treat patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma; Aranesp to treat a lower-than-normal number of red blood cells and anemia; EVENITY for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal for men and women; Vectibix to treat patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer; BLINCYTO for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia; TEPEZZA to treat thyroid eye disease; and KRYSTEXXA for the treatment of chronic refractory gout.